You Are The Luke To My Han Solo
by TinkerBella7
Summary: So this is an insert and a tag to COMPASS. I wanted Jack and Frankie to talk about Mac a bit and of course I had to had a bit more BROMANCE at the very end to tie up a little loose end.


Jack was happy to be free.

After punching Sang and being hauled away Jack had bided his time in a jail cell while MacGyver had called Matty, who had explained to the local PD who they were and what was happening, without giving away too much. At which point Frankie and Mac had used the blood on Jack's ring to confirm that Sang was a murderer and Matty was now doing everything in her power to ensure that Sang wouldn't be able to weasel his way out of murder, and attempted murder, charges that would guarantee him a life sentence.

So now the trio of Jack, Frankie and MacGyver were waiting on a call from Matty to confirm that the case against Sang was air tight. In the interim Mac decided to make the rounds of the campus to chat with a few of his old professors, then catch up with Smitty to say goodbye.

Which left Jack and Frankie hanging out together, so Jack decided to take advantage of the moment. "MacGyver would be mad at me for saying this," he began, grinning when he saw that his words had garnered Frankie's full attention. "But you do know that he had the biggest crush on you, maybe still does. I'll be perfectly honest, I've never heard him talk about anyone the way he talked about you on the drive up here. Of course, after meeting you, I totally get why he's in to you. You, young lady, are everything he said you were and more."

"Thank you for saying that, Jack," Frankie replied, a soft smile curving her lips as she thought about Mac. "Given how I didn't know about you until today, I can't really say the same. What I can say is that I'm glad we met, and I'm especially glad to know that you've got Mac's back."

"I appreciate that," Jack drawled. "But I'm sure you noticed that he's more than capable of taking care of himself, and everyone else around him."

Frankie nodded. "I did happen to notice that. The things that he did today...he blew me away."

Jack understood that sentiment. Even though he'd been watching Mac do amazing things, pretty much every day, he still found himself amazed and impressed time and again. "The truth is he doesn't really need me but, honestly, I don't know what I'd do with myself if he wasn't a part of my life."

"I think you're wrong about Mac not needing you," Frankie replied. "From what I've seen...you ground each other. It's a mutual need kind of thing."

"Sorta like I'm the yin to his yang?" Jack queried, because he could see that about them. They both brought things to the table that the other needed, and he knew it went beyond the work place partnership.

Frankie grinned. "Something like that," she allowed. "I was thinking more along the lines of you're the Han Solo to his Luke Skywalker."

Jack stared at her wide-eyed, surprised but pleased. "You're a Star Wars fan?"

"Should I be insulted that you're so surprised?" Frankie countered, but she was laughing. "Mac and I used to have a Star Wars movie night once a month. It was our...thing...that we did to de-stress."

"I can't even imagine what it's like being as smart as you and Mac are," Jack confessed. "I'm guessing it's not all it's cracked up to be?"

Frankie shrugged. "The thing about being so smart is that people expect a lot from you, all the time. We may be smart but we're human, not robots, so the expectations are often set too high to be realistic. Add to that the pressure we put on ourselves, and it can be overwhelming at times."

Jack got what she was saying, because he saw first hand the way the Foundation expected MacGyver to pull off miracle after miracle and the kid did it time and again. But at what price? "You seem to handle it pretty well, Frankie," Jack pointed out.

"Practice," she replied. "Lots and lots of practice. But I have my moments when I freak out or fall apart. Mac was good at getting me through those times with movies or video games or taking me to really bad poetry readings where we would mercilessly mock the performers. Out of earshot...of course."

"Of course." Jack chuckled at the image of MacGyver at poetry readings. But a moment later he grew serious. "Can I ask you something, Frankie?"

She nodded. "Sure."

Jack took the opportunity and ran with it. "What was Mac like when he went to school here?" he blurted out.

"Why don't you ask him?" Frankie countered, curiously, because she had no doubt but that Jack and Mac were friends as well as partners.

"I would, but Mac is not exactly impartial when it comes to himself," Jack countered. "I learned, pretty much the moment I met him, that he does not see himself the way others see him."

Frankie nodded in agreement. "You're absolutely right about that, Jack. Like how he knows he's smart but downplays it all the time." Which was just one of many examples she could list.

Jack knew they were on the exact same page in that moment. "On the drive here he tried to tell me that you were way out of his league because of how smart you are. Mind you, I know that you're super smart and all that, but Mac was trying to convince me that he wasn't smart enough for you. No offense, Frankie, but I don't believe that.

"And well you shouldn't," Frankie was quick to confirm. "I don't call him *boy genius* because it's a cool nickname."

"It is a cool nickname though," Jack countered, smirking. "Fits him to a *T* and I'm so going to steal it from you."

Frankie couldn't hold back a giggle. "Send me video of his reaction to you calling him that," she requested, before continuing her story. "I remember the first time I met Mac as if it were yesterday." Frankie didn't realize she was smiling as she fell into the memory. "One of my professors assigned him to me as a new intern. Seventh one in a two month period," she remembered, fondly.

Jack was surprised to hear that. "Why so many? What were you doing to them?"

"I was very passionate about my work and not very forgiving of mistakes," Frankie allowed.

"In other words you scared them off?" Jack guessed, and he found that easy enough to believe. A strong, smart, beautiful and passionate woman like Frankie would easily intimidate squeaky clean geek boys. He had no doubt, however, that Mac had been different. "So what happened next?" Jack prompted.

Frankie picked up where she'd left off. "I was supposed to pick Mac up from the Professor's office, but I got caught up in my work, as I was wont to do and forgot. So by the time I did remember I was terribly late and I grabbed my phone to text her while I ran to her office only to, literally, run into Mac. She had given him the directions to my lab and he was on his way there when we crashed. I was too busy texting and running, and he was too busy scribbling the answer to some equation she had given him in his notebook to see each other coming."

Jack snorted at the image he could too easily picture in his head. "Ow," he offered in sympathy.

"Yeah, we hit hard enough to knock each other back on our asses," Frankie allowed, before continuing. "So my phone had gone flying, as did his books. So there we were, the two of us scrambling to pick things up and simultaneously apologize, when MacGyver held out my phone and froze. And I do mean he froze. He just knelt there, staring at me, so I stared back."

"I can guess what he saw," Jack stated. "But what did you see?" This was what he had been waiting to hear.

Frankie sighed, feeling a bit nostalgic as she remembered the moment, clear as day. "I saw this skinny kid with long hair and sky-blue eyes, looking all of twelve years old. Which wouldn't have surprised me if he had actually been twelve," Frankie side-tracked for a moment. "We do get students that young on occasion."

Jack steered her back on the path. "Mac had it bad for you, didn't he?"

"He did," Frankie confirmed. "But, to his credit, he never let it get in the way of our being friends. Anyway, I took my phone from him and told him I was sorry that I couldn't help him pick up his books because I had to go pick up my new intern named Angus something or other. And he's all, 'That's me. I'm Angus MacGyver, but I go by MacGyver. Or Mac.'"

"Yep, that's my boy," Jack interjected, chuckling, because that was pretty much was the kid had said to him the first time they'd met.

Frankie smiled and nodded. "Anyway, it was my turn to freeze because I never expected that deep voice to come out of such a scrawny kid."

Jack was beginning to feel like he and Frankie were long lost twins or something, because he remembered having pretty much the exact same reaction. "Yeah, it still surprises me sometimes," he confessed. He didn't add that sometimes he felt a bit emasculated around the kid sometimes. "So how old was he when you *ran into* each other?" Jack queried.

"Fifteen, about to turn sixteen," Frankie replied. "I think I made him uncomfortable from staring so he started collecting his things while telling me he'd read all of my research papers and my thesis, and how he was looking forward to being my intern and so on. Turns out he was the best intern I'd ever had. If he didn't know something, or understand it, he would become laser-focused until he learned it or figued it out. He was like a damn sponge. Don't let him ever fool you, Jack, Mac is the smartest person I've ever met. Which brings us back around to why I call him *Boy Genius*." Which reminded Frankie of something else. "Do you know, it irks me to this day that he wouldn't tell me his IQ."

"Good to know I'm not the only one he wouldn't tell," Jack countered. "I asked him his IQ about a week after we met, when I realized he was a bona fide genius. Know what he told me?"

Frankie beat him to the punch. "Numbers don't matter," she quoted, at Jack's surprised expression she added, "He told me the exact same thing.

Jack realized he shouldn't have been surprised at all. "If you don't mind me asking, what is your IQ?"

"167," Frankie replied, without hesitation.

"As a reference, what's the average genius IQ?" Jack asked.

Frankie shrugged. "About 140 to 145."

Jack was duly impressed. "So you are very VERY smart."

"So I've been told," Frankie replied, with a shrug.

"If you had to guess, what do you think Mac's IQ might be?" Jack queried, his curiosity getting the best of him now.

Frankie had asked herself that question time and again during Mac's time at MIT, but it was hard to gauge. "IQ testing is based on a variable of skillsets. From what I observed about Mac from when he was here, and adding in the things he did the past twenty-four hours...I'm guessing he would score off the charts in all of them."

Jack heaved a dramatic sigh. "So you're not going to give me a number either?" he guessed.

"Let's make a pact to try and get it out of Mac in the course of the next month," Frankie challenged. "I've already made him promised to keep in touch through texting and phone calls, and you'll be with him in person, so one of us should be able to wear him down."

"Sounds like a plan," Jack agreed, holding out his good hand so they could shake on it. "What does the winner get?"

Frankie pondered for a moment. "Dinner at the restaurant of his, or hers, choice?"

Jack grinned. "I have expensive taste," he warned.

"You haven't seen me eat," Frankie countered, then she did a head turning change of topic. "So how old was Mac when you met him?"

"Nineteen," Jack replied. "But he turned twenty a few weeks later. I have to say, I've never met anyone like him."

Frankie could relate. "You're preaching to the choir. He really seemed to thrive here too, so imagine my surprise when he just up and left. Do you know, he just now told me that he quit to disarm bombs in Afghanistan. I get why he went that route but I never saw that coming," Frankie confessed. "That said, I'm guessing that's where you met him?"

Jack nodded. "My first thought was - what the hell is this kid doing here? Then I watched him work and I got it. Took me all of one day to realize MacGyver is the smartest and bravest person I've ever met. And let me tell you, I've met some of the bravest people on the planet. But there is no one like Mac. There's not one day that goes by that he doesn't surprise me with the things that he can do."

"I don't doubt that," Frankie stated, thinking back on some of the things she had seen Mac do today. "That thing he did, making the electrical whips. And let's not forget how he made a working centrifuge out of cardboard and shoe laces? Who does that?"

"One Angus MacGyver," Jack stated, proudly. "That's who."

Right on cue, Mac appeared before them. "Did I hear my name?" he queried, eyeing Jack with suspicion.

Jack snorted. "Why would we be talking about you when I'm here?"

"Good point," MacGyver stated, knowing Jack was lying but willing to let it go. He was, however, about to grill Frankie about her future plans when Jack's phone rang.

"It's Matty," Jack replied, before answering.

Then their boss spent the next few minutes filling them all in on Sang's bleak future.

Because Matty wanted the duo back ASAP, she sent the company jet to bring them home.

Once they were settled in for the flight home, Mac found himself blurting out the question that had been burning on his tongue for the past hour. "So what were you and Frankie talking about while I was saying my goodbyes?"

"You." Jack saw no reason to lie about it. "We exchanged *MacGyver* stories."

"Seriously?" Mac hoped Jack was just messing with him, because he shuddered to think about the kinds of stories Jack might have shared with Frankie. Not that she didn't have a few embarrassing *Mac* stories of her own to tell.

Jack realized the kid was actually nervous about it. "Chill out, bud, it's all good. Seriously, nothing but good things to say about you all the way around. I could do an instant replay, if you like."

Mac shook his head. "I'll pass." In this instance he felt that ignorance was true bliss, besides which there was something he needed to get off his chest. "Jack...there's something I need to tell you."

"Well spit it out," Jack prompted, because the serious look on Mac's face was starting to worry him. "What's rattling around in that ginormous brain of yours?"

"I wanted to apologize," MacGyver replied.

That threw Jack for a loop. "Apologize?" he echoed. "For what?"

Mac pointed to Jack's arm, strapped in the sling. "For you getting hurt. It was my fault."

"Whoa! Stop right there!" Jack was quick to cut the kid off. "You have nothing to apologize for, Mac. I'm the one that needs to apologize to you. I never should have suggested hiding in the dumpster. I knew it was a crazy idea, but around you I always feel like I might as well go big or go home, because I know you'll figure out how to save us if something goes wrong." Jack leaned forward to lock eyes with the kid. "That puts a lot of pressure on you, way too much pressure, and that's not fair of me to do to you."

"I do my best work under pressure," Mac reminded him. "You got hurt because I didn't take the time to make sure you understood what I needed you to do, Jack. That's on me."

Jack shook his head. "I couldn't disagree with you more. We almost died because I had the stupid idea of hiding in the dumpster. You saved us, the way you always do. End of story."

MacGyver couldn't let it go, but before he could say anything Jack shook a finger at him.

"I'm not done," Jack stated. "It's my turn to tell you something, and I want you to listen carefully, Mac."

"Okay, I'm listening," MacGyver replied, and he was being sincere because he could tell that his friend was being completely serious in this moment.

Jack was pleased that he had Mac's full attention as he said his piece. "So we both know I've been throwing around the Star Wars anecdotes and analogies the past couple of days, but I want you to know that I will always be the Han Solo to your Luke Skywalker. And what I mean by that is...even though you and I are like night and day, that's exactly why we work so well together. There's no night without day and visa versa, so we kinda gel together in a way that makes us stronger and better together." Jack broke off, shaking his head because he couldn't quite put into words what he was trying to say.

Mac realized Jack was getting frustrated and he reached out to his friend, clapping him on his good shoulder. "I get it, Jack, and you're right. "We are stronger and better together, which means we can't let Matty split us up."

"Don't you worry about that," Jack countered. "Matty and I are going to have a long talk when we get back. But I guarantee you, she's not going to mess with us. She likes to shake us up to wake us up on occasion, but she knows we're unbeatable as a team."

"Good to know," Mac said, feeling relief wash over him. "But I'm still sorry you got hurt."

Jack scowled at him. "If you apologize just one more time, I'm going to take you over my knee and give you a spanking you won't forget."

Mac snorted. "Not gonna happen even if you had two good arms," he shot back.

"Try it and see," Jack challenged him, knowing that the kid wouldn't take him up on it. At least he hoped he wouldn't.

"In your dreams," Mac drawled, rising to his feet to grab them both a water, before he stretched out on one of the couches and made himself comfortable.

Jack followed suit on the other couch, it had been a long couple of days for them both. He watched the kid close his eyes before doing the same. But a moment later he had to test the waters. "So Mac, did you know that Frankie has an IQ of 167?"

Mac sighed. "I did." He knew exactly where this was going, so he cut Jack off at the knees. "Still not going to tell you my number."

"I hate you...just a little bit," Jack groused, half-heartedly.

"I can live with that," Mac replied, smirking even though Jack couldn't see it.

Jack stewed for a few minutes then tried again. "What's the deal with not sharing your IQ?" he asked.

Mac heaved a more dramatic sigh this time. "It's not a big deal, Jack, but I can't share what I don't know."

"What?" Jack sat up and stared at his friend. "What do you mean you don't know."

"Did I stutter?" Mac mocked. "I don't know my IQ, Jack. I never got tested."

Jack was stunned. "Why not?" He figured every genius wanted to know their IQ for bragging purposes.

Mac shrugged, although it was less effective since he was still lying down. "Because it's just a stupid number that doesn't mean anything. Now go to sleep."

"Fine." Jack settled down again, but a moment later he drawled. "Goodnight, Luke." He chuckled when a pillow hit him smack dab in the face. "Thanks," he crowed, as he stuffed it behind his head. When Mac didn't respond, Jack finally settled down and let the companionable silence between them, lull him to sleep.

THE END


End file.
